Charlie Cox Called Vincent D'Onofrio "Delusional" for Hopes of Daredevil Return: "I Thought It Was Over"

Call it blind faith: Vincent D'Onofrio believed Marvel's Daredevil could return after being cancelled at Netflix after three seasons. Charlie Cox called that belief "delusional." That's because the Matt Murdock actor was unaware of a contract clause that prevented the characters from the Defenders series — including Daredevil, Luke Cage (Mike Colter), Iron Fist (Finn Jones), and Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) — from appearing in a non-Netflix series or movie for at least two years post-cancellation. For Daredevil, that meant icing Cox and D'Onofrio's characters until at least November 2020. (D'Onofrio reprised his role as Kingpin in the 2021 Disney+ series Hawkeye, while Cox made a cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home that same year before returning in Disney+'s She-Hulk.)

"I really thought that ship had sailed, you know? I thought it was over," Cox said during a panel at Wales Comic Con. "It had been a couple of years since [Daredevil was cancelled]. What I didn't know was there was an embargo on that. So, there was an amount of time – I think it was probably two years – after the show was canceled before Disney and Marvel could approach us."

Cox continued: "So, during that time, I didn't know that. I just thought it was over. And Vincent, who plays Wilson Fisk, him and I would chat occasionally on the phone. And he would kind of say, 'I'm sure they're gonna bring us back.' I'd be on the phone being, like, 'Mate, the guy's delusional! He's got to let it go.'"

The cancelled Marvel Television shows — Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Punisher, and The Defenders — left Netflix for Disney+ in 2022. Cox and D'Onofrio will return in Marvel Studios' first TV-MA series, Echo, before reuniting in the Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again. Jon Bernthal, who joined the MCU as Frank Castle in season 2 of Daredevil, is also set to reprise his role as The Punisher.

Loki season 2 directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead are developing the reworked project after it underwent a creative overhaul post-writers' strike. While Born Again is more sequel than reboot, D'Onofrio has clarified that the Disney+ series is not Daredevil season 4 or a continuation of the Netflix series from the now-defunct Marvel Television.

"I think it's definitely a new show. It's not the Netflix show. It's definitely a new show," D'Onofrio told ComicBook before the overhaul. "I mean, all I can say is that Charlie and I are not bored. We are having a great time. We have a great cast, and I think everybody else is having a great time too. Charlie's one of my favorite people, and I know that he comes [to set] every day ready to knock it out of the park and you know how I am, I'm totally into this part, so I'm there for the same reason."

Daredevil: Born Again does not yet have a release date on Disney+.